Teaching is a social art. The interaction between teachers and students, and students with students is a process we as educators are always trying to find ways to refine. We’ve all heard about the push away from ‘the sage on the stage’ to ‘the guide on the side’, but hopefully it will come as no surprise to people that teaching, does, in fact, at some point require being in front of your students imparting some pearls of wisdom. There’s a reason the traditional lecture is still used in many post-secondary classes. It is still one of the most efficient ways to pack a lot of information into a lesson. But if we’re being honest, listening to one person deliver a monologue on any topic has its limits. If you’ve watched one of the many popular TED talks videos, or been to a TED event yourself you know that the majority of these engaging talks are less than 20 minutes in length. Listening to one voice for any longer can easily become tedious. And here, I would suggest, we find the first reason that team teaching is a technique that should be employed more often.

Two teachers collaborating to tackle a single topic can provide a much more interesting dynamic than any single teacher could. The difference in intonation, inflection and cadence of each speaker can reinvigorate a lesson. Moreover, with each teacher giving their unique perspective on the topic, greater insight and expertise is provided. Some speakers are better at giving concise explanations, while another may teach using anecdotes and stories. In a team teaching setting there’s room for both.

When delivering a lesson solo it can be easy for your plan to be side-tracked, or for you to lose focus on the intended outcomes. Having a second teacher to help guide things back on course can be a huge benefit.   In my experience, class discussions led by two teachers tend to be richer, as having a second ‘expert’ opinion and a second set of rich life experiences can help inform the conversation. Two teachers are able to debate opposing sides of an issue, build upon each others points and can even correct or clarify each others facts thereby ensuring students have an accurate understanding. Clearly a high level of trust and excellent rapport needs to exist between team teachers if they are going to be successful.

A team teaching scenario can provide the potential to pair a novice teacher with a more veteran teacher. Teaching is a profession that benefits immensely from having mentorship relationships. Too often new teachers are thrust unprepared into their first year classroom and are only able to seek out fleeting guidance during lunchtime or afterschool if any colleagues are available.   The mentorship possibilities alone have the potential to raise the quality of teaching for all students.

Another pedagogical advantage is the potential for small group activities. This is made possible by the decrease in the student to teacher ratio. In cases where team-teaching involves even more than two teachers, jigsaw activities and intense small group discussions with increased student engagement and accountability are possibilities. Cross-curricular possibilities abound, with team-teacher pairs emphasizing the connections during a lesson between each of their curricular expertise areas.

My best lessons are the ones I have done in a team-teaching environment. During summer I teach with MEI Academy, a study-abroad program that provides lessons on location around the world. The vast majority of the lessons I deliver during that time are done with a teaching partner. For the last 3 years I’ve been teaching with a remarkable educator and friend named Simon. In preparing together for lessons we’re able to identify which instructional elements each of us should be emphasizing. For example, in a business lesson on game theory I will make sure I’m prepared to discuss Nash Equilibrium and the prisoner’s dilemma, while Simon will make sure he has polished up the accompanying interactive activity which will sharpen the students understanding. In a lesson on debate perhaps I will focus on pathos, while Simon focuses on discussing logos or ethos. Each of us is responsible for making sure a particular element of the lesson is refined, while both being permitted to also contribute to the piece the other is preparing. By focusing on preparing only a portion of the lesson, the prep time required is actually decreased while the quality of instruction is simultaneously enhanced. And with practice and over time the lessons become seamless with each of us contributing our equal part.  In a time when we are, more than ever, asking our students to integrate, synthesize and think critically, having two teachers who are able model the integration of each other’s ideas in front of the class serves as a powerful example.

Simon is a far more entertaining speaker than I am, so I’m thankful when he’s able to interject with an amusing anecdote or story that supports the learning objectives I’m trying to achieve with the students. Having two teachers with different personalities also means we are connecting with the students in two distinctly unique ways. The importance of the teacher-student relationship has been increasingly emphasized as vital for student achievement. This end is clearly supported by having two teachers who are able to cultivate those relationships in different ways.

So why is team-teaching not more widely used? Firstly, it is not economical. For arguments sake let’s say the average classroom holds 30 students. To have two teachers instruct 30 students costs double the price a solo teacher would. “So why not double the space?” you ask. I remember there was a time when this used to be done. At Handsworth we used to have something called ‘large group’, where 60 students would pile into a double sized classroom and 2 teachers would deliver a lesson together. It was great. Students who were all going to be tested on the same content could be sure they weren’t missing something the other students were getting in another teachers class because they were all learning it in the same place at the same time. The novice teachers could see how the senior teachers taught the subject and everyone would be on the same page in terms of the assessment and expectations of the students. But, alas, it happens no more. The complexities of scheduling simultaneous blocks of the same class were such that students ended up taking the class at differing times, and so synchronizing a ‘large group’ appeared to become impossible. And with time it seems that scenario has become a lost discussion. Finally, the large group room that was once used has since been converted into two separate classrooms – a consequence of a school at capacity looking for more instructional space. I suspect the need for smaller separate spaces is similar in other schools that also follow the traditional classroom model.

Many teachers themselves are reluctant to try team-teaching. It falls outside the comfort zone of many who have long held routines and teach their subject the way they’ve always taught it. It takes a teacher who is willing to be vulnerable and not worried about being judged to have a colleague in their classroom while they teach. As professionals, some of us still have this fear that we might be inadequate at what we’re doing, or perhaps ‘behind the times’. And opening the door to another teacher is to expose all our instructional warts. My experience, however, has been that I work with remarkable teachers. And we have far more to learn from each other’s classrooms than we have to worry about. Team-teaching celebrates the great things each teacher has to bring to the table, and doesn’t place a value judgement on what’s not working – because to teach with a partner is to demonstrate a willingness to improve. I hope to have the opportunity to team-teach more in the future as I believe collaborating with colleagues raises the quality of the educational experience for students.